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On the other hand, the Bills has a very loyal following and it goes into parts of NW PA, Southern Ontario in Canada and nearby regions of Upstate NY. So, there are quite a few people within a reasonable distance.

I'm from Utica. While certainly not a Buffalo sports fan, I can attest to their loyalty.

Franchise values go up and down, so it's not a good way to gauge things.

Boston teams were behind Philadelphia in franchise value before they started winning all these championships. Now look who is ahead.

I'm from Utica. While certainly not a Buffalo sports fan, I can attest to their loyalty.

Franchise values go up and down, so it's not a good way to gauge things.

Boston teams were behind Philadelphia in franchise value before they started winning all these championships. Now look who is ahead.

Franchise values go up and down relative to success.

I don't want to argue your point, but sometimes that's not the case. Take the NY Jets for example, they are valued over 2 billion dollars, yet other than winning the third super bowl they have not done much in 50 years. The Jets live in the shadow of the Giants. Yet, the Jets claim one of the greatest franchise values in American sports. The Cowboys "Americas Team"are the most valued sports franchise in the world, at over 4 billion dollars. But, they have had limited success since the early 90's. Just image if they won the super bowl, there value would skyrocket. If the Bills won 4 Super Bowls in a row they still would not be in the Cowboys league. They have millions more fans than the Bills. In the NFL you need at least 3 million fans to support the team. I'd be surprised if the Bills had more than 3 million fans compared to the Cowboys with more than 15 million fans.

Not sure where that number came from but the Bills are in fact the lowest valued team in the NFL, who still manage a team valuation of $1.5 billion and 2016 revenues of $326 million dollars. Hardly shabby...

Not sure where that number came from but the Bills are in fact the lowest valued team in the NFL, who still manage a team valuation of $1.5 billion and 2016 revenues of $326 million dollars. Hardly shabby...

Their are a lot of cities that have tried to get sports teams. Las Vegas has a metro of 2.5 million and they are finally getting an NHL team. It's no secret that Las Vegas lobbied all of the major sports leagues for years, but no one wanted to take a gamble; no pun intended. Albuquerque, NM had expressed interest in acquiring a Big Four sports team, but no businessmen wants to take a chance of lossing millions of dollars on a city with little more than 2 million people in its whole surrounding state. Even Minor league teams don't like locating to metro areas under 150,000 people. The suburb I live in is about 40 miles west of Chicago, we have the Joliet Slammers; they got their name from our maximum security prison, Statesville. Their mascot is a jailbird, it's great! But, the Slammers are not affiliated with MLB. They have a talent pool comparable to single A. Some of our players became Major Leaguers. We love our Slammers. They have scheduled fireworks shows after games, win or lose. They make most of their money through ticket sales and sponsorships. At Silver Cross Stadium, if ticket sales are low, they lose money; its that simple. It's just like the MLB was in the 1910's-1920's before radio broadcast deals with the league solidified. We lost our other minor league team because they went bankrupt. The more people rooting for a team, the better the organization does overall. The Brooklyn Dodgers never would have left NYC if they thought they would make more money in NYC. It's because LA was the bigger market. Most of NYC was Yankees crazy. You still have old people in Brooklyn with broken hearts over the move.

Boston does have a strong sports culture, but mainly in hockey and baseball. The Patriots and Celtics are only popular when they're winning. I'd probably put the list like this for major metros:
1. Philadelphia
2. Chicago
3. Boston
4. New York
5. Detroit

Special mention to the smaller, dedicated cities like Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Milwaukee/GB

Boston does have a strong sports culture, but mainly in hockey and baseball. The Patriots and Celtics are only popular when they're winning. I'd probably put the list like this for major metros:
1. Philadelphia
2. Chicago
3. Boston
4. New York
5. Detroit

Special mention to the smaller, dedicated cities like Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Milwaukee/GB

Hockey enrollment declined, then increased and plateaued, in MA. It used to be stronger. Nowadays, it's not as much. Other states have also either caught up or are pumping out higher % growth in players. Jack Eichel isn't from Boston.

The hockey reputation largely relies on just that, reputation.

MN, MI and NY I would rank ahead of MA, which would comfortably by fourth. Then I would add PA and IL, and CA.

More and more NHL players are coming from "non-traditional" markets. Auston Matthews is from Scottsdale, AZ. I'm a massive hockey fan. It's the only sport I follow.

Heh, well I will defer to your expertise; I mainly based it on the fervor I saw when visiting one March, and seeing minor/local league hockey regularly broadcast on bar TVs (which I haven't seen anywhere else). I did always assume Minnesota to be the hockey capital of the US.

Heh, well I will defer to your expertise; I mainly based it on the fervor I saw when visiting one March, and seeing minor/local league hockey regularly broadcast on bar TVs (which I haven't seen anywhere else). I did always assume Minnesota to be the hockey capital of the US.

The Blackhawks were really bad for a really long time. The Blackhawks franchise was a sleeping giant, but now they have a dynasty. More and more parents are signing up their children for hockey. Ten years from now you will see the results.

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